It seems that there is more to Germany than mediocre black metal. Actually, there is this superb black metal act on the loose and no one should by any means miss it.
Colossal Christhunt is OBSIDIAN GATE’s second CD by Skaldic Art (the previous being The Nightspectral Voyage). Tracks are seemingly long and filled with different moods. Chiefly characterized by their orchestral complexity and speed, the songs are played by skilled musicians with deep feeling for the complexity and density of the sound they have to offer. It becomes plain that these guys know how to write challenging music. Tempo changes are somewhat unexpected, from an apparent cosmic harmony (which always has a chaotic edge) to a violent eruption of bombastic Armageddon.
Two bands that almost immediately came into perspective were the (almost) inevitable LIMBONIC ART (for the opulent orchestral elements) and OBTAINED ENSLAVEMENT from the Witchcraft and Soulblight albums (for the continual usage of classical music in their songs or composition). As it comes to LIMBONIC ART, OBSIDIAN GATE differ chiefly from LA insofar as OG are not nearly as electronic and their guitar lines are much more technical, somehow more ‘human’. Try listening to Urgewalten or Behold The Imperial Rise. On the other hand, there might be some ominous industrial parts somewhere in Dux Bellorum, but even that will prove how essentially different they are from LA.
One of the main aspects (probably a big disappointment in that sense) of the album is drums. The distracted listener will probably think at the very beginning that the drummer is such a war machine and blasts like hell… However, drums were PROGRAMMED by Markus Z. and there is no real drummer on this album (it seems likely that Markus Z. will play drums as well on their next release). It really felt like a blow, because when one listens to such art, it feels a bit treacherous to find out how artificial its origin is… Notwithstanding, the drum sound is more than recommended. I suppose it confers a new faster dimension to the music itself.
Vocals are generally not as grim as most BM bands use. Sometimes edging on the DM border, I actually found them quite suitable and bearable. A collaboration partner in the tenor and choral voicing is Martin Wiese (from ENID fame). I suppose the mention of his name might ring a bell and raise your hopes… which will only be confirmed the moment you listen to Colossal Christhunt..
As it comes to production, OBSIDIAN GATE were definitely luckier this time than they were on their predecessor The Nightspectral Voyage, where the sound was somewhat sterile, not conveying the required power. Each song stands for itself and they grow on you with each listening session. There are plenty details to be noticed every time one hears it again. Accordingly, different moods provide with different interpretations.
One thing about this release which you should (also) by no means afford to miss is the lyrics, written in above the average English and with CONTENT. There is no conceptual unity to the album: each song has its own beginning and end (unlike the more conceptual predecessor The Nightspectral Voyage). Thematically and graphically, it reports back to Ancient Rome and it is not altogether impossible to associate parts of the album to ‘Gladiator’ or ‘Quo Vadis’ or something along those lines. All this is plainly stated in tracks like: Behold The Imperial Rise, Dux Bellorum or Colossal Christhunt. The other tracks (Urgewalten, Tide Of The Envenomed Oceans and Of Purest Pandaemonium) may be different-natured. It is up to you to read/hear and see.
OBSIDIAN GATE are already in the process of writing the follow-up to Colossal Christhunt. New members will certainly join the band, since Daniela P. (orchestra) left for personal reasons. The surviving members are the omnipresent Markus Z. (artwork, design, guitars, all vocals, drums and lyrics) and Marcos B. (orchestra, guitars and bass). I am certainly awaiting their next opus, which will probably last 60 minutes. In all likelihood another blow of fierce, complex, and fast composition.
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Obsidian Gate – Tide of The Envenomed Oceans